The last couple of years have seen a resurgence in people enjoying cooking in their own homes. Not only does it cost less to eat in your own home, but it’s also a creative outlet and it allows you to create healthier meals. But sometimes in order to make cooking easier you need to make some changes to your kitchen. Here are some simple guidelines to consider when updating your kitchen.Light it up! One of the best ways to make cooking easier is to improve the lighting in your kitchen. When you’re planning improvements to your kitchen lighting it’s important to include not only overhead but also task lighting. Task lighting is lighting for a specific area where you plan to need specific directed light. Task lighting is especially important in areas where you are reading cookbooks, chopping vegetables or doing other tasks that require good visibility.Workstation Space: How do you use your kitchen? Is there an area that you consistently use to do specific tasks? Make sure that area is tailored to allow you to do the things you need to do in that area.Elbow Room: If you have more than one cook in your kitchen it’s important to plan to have enough room for all of them. In general it’s important to leave at least 48” for two cooks. If you’re flying solo you should still leave at least 42” to still maintain an easy flow of traffic.Work your Triangle: Most cooks travel in a pretty clear pattern between their sink, range and refrigerator were they are potentially carrying heavy or hot items. It’s important when planning changes to your kitchen to make sure that you won’t have major home walkways or other obstacles that interrupt that work triangle.Organized Storage: Both chefs and home cooks can work easier if they can find and easily access what they need! It’s important to think about the things that you frequently use in your kitchen and look at their size and where they would be most easily stored when planning changes to your kitchen. Making a plan for where you are going to store things like spices, utensils and pots and pans can greatly increase the functionality of your kitchen.If you have any questions or need help with planning your next project, we're here to help. Please feel free to call us for help!